Method of and machine for operating upon hides, skins, and leather



1932. a. FREUDENBERG v 1,369,472

umuon 0F ANU mourns FOR OPERATING UPON HIDES, sxms, AND LEATHER Filed Sept. 7, 1927 ZSheets-Shfibt 1;

Aug. 2, 1932- H. FREUDEN BERG 1,869,472 METHOD OF AND IACHINB FOR OPERATING UPON HIDES, SKINS, AND LEATHER Filed Sept. 7. 1927 2 Sheats Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 2, 1932 4 UNITED STATES PAT NT OFFICE t HANS IBEUDENBERG, OF WEINHEIH, GERMANY METHOD 01 am) mcnnm non ornna'rmo tron nrnns, SSE-INS, mnm'rm Application and September 7, 1927, Serial no.

This invention relates to methods of and machines for operating upo'n hides, skins, leather and other similar pieces of work. While it is exemplified in its application ;5 to performing beam-house operations upon hides and skins, it is to be understood that the invention may have other applications and uses.

Commonly, the first o eration in the beam- 1 house of a tannery is t at of unhairing for which special machines have lon been provided, each requiring the attention of one or two workmen'in introducing the pieces of work into the machine which operates 15 on onl one-half of each piece of work at a time. t follows that each piece of work must 'be introdu ced twice into the unhairing ma- ,chme and that in performing these operatlons the workman or workmen must reverse the position of the piece of work following the rst operation so. that at the second op.- eration the untreated portion left after the first operation may be operated upon, thus completing the unhairing operation for that piece of work. Following the unhairing op-' eration it is common practice, though not with all classes of hides and skins, to check the hide or skin, that is, to reduce the thickness of the head and neck portions by split- 30 ting off' the excess-thickness portions b means of a'cutter so that the head and nec portions will cometo have substantially the same thiclmess as that of the body portion of the same hide or sln'n, In many tanneries this checking operation requires the attention of two men operating a checking machine, particularly in operating u on hides a .of considerable size 'andwcight, ithcr beforeor after the ob :e I operation both connective tissue,and flesh from the flesh side pf the. hide or skin. Here again, the industryhas for any years utilized special machines which require two workmen for each .machine, unless indeed small skins are being fleshed; As in the unhairing operation each skin is introduced twice into the machine since approximately a half of the hidehides and skins are flesh to reinove'fat,:

218,016, and in Germany September 11, 1926.

eration, to reverse the hide or skin between each of the fleshin operations.

It is an object 0 this invention to provide for economies inthe beam-house, regluc- 'ing the number of workmen forthe beamhouse machines, and obviating the, necessity for the greater part of the laborious and even exhausting work heretofore performed in attending each of these machines.

v To these ends, the invention, considering so, it in its machine aspect, provides means for gripping a. hide or skin and controllm itwhile it is passingsuccessively .throug a pluralityof machine operations, the means referred to maintaining its gripupon, the 5 hide or skin while it is being presented for each operation and also during its passage from' one field, of operation to another. Thus, instead of having to manipulatejthe work after each machine operatlonin tic- 79 cordance with the requirements of the old and well-known arrangements, a number of operations "may be performed mechamcally and at a very considerable saving of time and f 'eflort. Subse uently to'the first set of op- 15 erations, each ide or skin is subjected to a similar series of operations whilemechanlcally controlled to completed the desired operations upon that portion of each hide} or skin which was gripped by the. gripping and controlling means during the first set of operations.

Beam-house machines are usually of the type in which each machine cycle comprises a work-receiving part and a work-treating 5 part. In view of .this fact, 'the means for gripping apiece of work and introducing its succesaively into the machines of a set 1s organized to facilitate timin of the workreceiving part of thecycle o a each machine 00 with respect to the'grippin .means so that an ungripped portion'of eac of a plurality of pieces of work may be operated upon dur ing'the worketreating'part of the cycle ofv each machine in turn and while under conon trol throu h the 'pped' portion thereof. Commonlyaoo, the%am-house machines are of the type in which a work-supporting nioves between a work-receiving position and 'a work-presenting position with respect to m operating tool in position a substantial ingly, the illustrated mechanism is organized "trol of the ope and. particularly susceptible 'to'injuryi or k n 8 eing operated u this .fact the grippers may some pressure just suflicient to support dammit th an id viating e r.o amaging' i 'it',thereby to resent in turn the portion of eac of a plurality oipieces T work to each of the series of machines while its work support is in work-receiving position under conv rator. Asherein illustrated, conveyor mechanism, comprising work-gripping means which pass over a luralit 'o guldin rolls so arranged that hi es or suspen ed-from the gripping means may be introduced in turn into each machine, is effective gripped portions of each of the pieces of work in turn to each of a set of beam-house machines without losing control or skins throughout the series of operations or durin transfer between successive operatrons. the illustratedloi' ization, the travelof the conveyor is tim totake up the slack 1n the work as the latter. isfed out of each mahine, the arrangement being such that the conveyordoes not dra the work thr ugh any of the machines. ecaiise of the hideior I o the hide or skin at a time en it is tender e the conveyor may be operated intermittently so asto come to while. a hide n at each of a p a ty of stations, pre egablys'i and as the necessary dwell in the horizontal.

s own, the conveyor 'is 'continuou y driven, travelmgmovement of the hide or skinto being i d-by reason of the travel'of the work and of the work-grip ing means down- W 'dly toward and upwa y'from the coneyor guiding roll located directly above and adjacent to each machine, the horizontal travel of the hide or skin in and lock "tions.

: the lower halfof the' conveyor gm roll the ta te of having the elfect of slowing u .end of its travel of the hide or skin at t machme'bed1 roll.

Othen features gi thg invention relate to v the work on aconveyor and to for. automatically controll' the'gripping means so'as toclose A latter upon each" piece of work lll'tlll'h t an i through the v and to release the work following the completion of the set of operaimproved means for gripping In its method aspect the invention is charrt is in work-receiving to present un-- of the hides each machine to begin operating onthe work.

of its travel to and ing to 'eifect theeconomies above referred to and to lessen the labor of theopera-tives. bythe employment of apparatus such as that provided by this invention. From this v1ewpoint the invention comprises performing a plurality of operations upon bothgrain and esh surfaces of a portion only of each of a plurality of hides or ski'ns resented in suc-' cession to each i a plura ity of machines such'as beam-house machines of the types referred to,and subsequently performing the same or a similar series ofioperations upon the remaining portion of each of the hides or skins in succession. Thus, as herein set forth by way of illustration, the invention comprises gripping a portion of a hide or plurality of operations in skin, performmg a ungrippcd portion ofthe 511006851011 POI! an hid or skin while. the latter is controlled the These and other features and characteristies of the invention will nowbe described in I detail and claims.

In thedrawings v Fig. .1 is a diagrammatic representation of a series of beam-house machines together pieces ofwork ,insuccession t0 the machines Fig.'=1a is a diagrammatic representation I pointed out iii-theappended with-a conveyor mechanism for presenting j of one endof a conveyor mechanism for carr c ines, the conveyor mechanism being represented in line with the conveyor mechanism of Fig.1;

I Fig. 2 1s adetail view of the mechanism for automatically the iedes of work; q I w v Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the 'pper in closedposition;

Fi -5 is a detail view showing the means for initiating opening of the grippers. in

succession; and

Fig. 4 is a view of a gripper and gripper operating mechanism looking from the right ing p fi of work to a plurality of ma-;

closingthe' grippers upon with a ver- 12c 10 provided with a plurality of griprality of pieces of work 13 in succession toan'fl unhairin'g machine 14 at station A,"toa cheekhim 16 atstafion Bi and finally to'a 'fleshingl machine 18'at .stationfl. Subse- .quently, the of work are inturnat station unhairin andfleshingbperatibhs compl checking 'acterized byvradical inthe handling sameporti'onqf each of the pieces of work.

use the Since the cheeking operation is performed if at all only on one portion of each hide or 'skin, that is, upon the head and neck portions of the hide orskin, a conveyor mechanism 20 (Fig. 1a) which is identical in all respects with the conveyor mechanism is provided to present the partially. treated hides or skins to a plurality of machines which may include unhairing and fleshing machines (not'shown), the checking .machine, however, being omitted. Vhile carried by the conveyor each piece of work 13 is gripped by its treated portion so that the untreated portion may be presented. to unhairing and fleshing machines like those at stations A and G. This completes the beam-house operations on these hides or skins. Y

' The beam-house machinesare preferably ,0 of the type shown in United States Letters Patent No. 873,790, granted Dee-17, 1907, upon application of Rood and Perkins, in which a bed roll for receiving and supporting a piece of work is movable to work-re- .5 ceiving position where it is spaced a considerable distancefrom the tool or other 'instrumentality for operating upon the work, thus making it easy to introduce the piece of work by simply suspending it from b the conveyor to which it is gripped and lowering it into the space between the bed roll and the tool. Subsequently, the bed roll moves into co-operative relation with respect to the tool, carrying a portion of the sus- Fipended work with it.

1 Upon inspection of the unhairing machine 14 at statio-n A it will be observed that a bed roll 22, in its operative position, is shown pressing the hide or skin against a bladed cylinder 24. and also against a pinch roll 26.

As a matter of fact, the bed roll 22 presses the piece of work against the pinch roll 26 just before the workreaches operative position with respect to the bladed cylinder 24 5 so that the feeding of the work the bed roll 22 and the pinch roll 26 is started just before the cylinder begins to operate. At the time that the piece of work 13 was in-' troduced into machine 14 the bed roll 22 was OI in the position'indicat-ed by dotted-lines at the left of its solid-line position at station A. Since the bed roll 22 and the pinch roll 26 are both turning. at a rapid rate as compared to the speed of the conveyor 10, in 5 directions to feed the piece of work backwardly out of the machine and in a direction to release the piece of work to the control of the conveyor 10, the latter may continue its movement during the unhairing 0 operation. The hair on a piece of work 13 is indicated at 27 by shading. It will he noticed, upon inspection of the piece of work 13 between stations A and B, that the hair was removed from a portion of the hide 0 5 skin by the machine at station A.

Following the unhairing operation, the piece of Work is presented to the checking machine 16 at station B at a time when bed roll 28 is in its work-receiving position indicated by dotted lines'at the right of its tions 33 reduced by splitting ott' the excess thickness. Upon inspection of the machine at station B it will be observed that the bed roll 28 co-operates with the pinch roll 30 in feeding the piece of work upwardly in a direction to release it to the control of the conveyor 10.

Following the checking operation the hide or skin is next presented .to a fieshing machine at station C to have fat, connective tissue,.and pieces of flesh indicated by dotted line 35 removed from the flesh side of the hide or skin. Here again, a bed roll indicated by reference character 34 is in open position while the work is being introduced. Upon moving to work presenting position, the bed roll presses the hide or skin against a pinch roll 36 and then against a fleshing cylinder 38. As in the machines disclosed at stations A and B, the bed roll and pinch roll of the fleshing machine operate to'feed the work up.- wardly in a direction to release it to the moving conveyor 10; Since the beam-house machines all feed the work in a direction and at a speed suflicient to release it to the control of the conveyor, the grippers 12 clamp the work with a pressure just suiiicient to carry it and present itto the different machines. In other words, the conveyor does not drag the workthrough the machines but simply takes up the slack and consequently the gripping pressure of the grippers does not need to be so great as to mar the tender hides and skins. All of the desired beamhouse operations having now been performed -upon the same portion of the hide or skin,

approximately one-half thereof, this pieceof work is released at station D so that it may be secured to the similar conveyor 20 (Fig. let), this time being'engaged by a gripper 12 in such a way as to present the unfinished portion of the work to another set of machines which will include an unhairing machine and a fleshmg machine such as those disclosed'at stations A and C respectlvely, the

cheeking machine being omitted for reasonsalready stated.

For guiding and for causing movement of the flexible conveyor 10, the latter passes around and over a plurality of sprocket wheels 50, some of which are driven to cause movement of the conveyor 10 While others such as those at 52, 54, 56 may be idlers serving to guide the conveyor to such positions that the pieces of work carried by the conveyor may be introduced into the respective machines at statlons A, B and7C. The oper-' ation of this part of the mechanism may be 'brieflydescribed as follows: When a gripveyor moves in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1 the gripper 12 is caused to close.

upon the hide or skin by means which will hereinafter be described. When the gripped hide or skin has been lowered into position be tween the bed roll 22 and the cylinder 24 of the unhairing machine at station A the bed roll is caused to move to work-presenting position with respect to the cylinder by the tripping of a treadle or other means for controlling the clutch of the unhairin g machine.

- The clutclrof each of the machines may be tripped by an operator who works in timed relation to the conveyor to cause opening and closing of the bed rolls of each machine. It

will be observed that there is a dwell in the horizontal movement of the hide or skin from left to right in this figure while the conveyor 10 is traveling down one side of the sprocket wheel 52 and up the other side thereof and also a slowing of the rate of downward movement and of the beginning of the upward movement in passing around the wheel 52 which affords time sufiicient for operation of the bed roll to be initiated by the operator and for the bed roll to \move'to work presenting position with respect to the bladed cylinder 24 and also to feed the work sufliciently to release it to the slower moving conveyor 10 which moves fast enough to take up the slack in the hide or skin, as heretofore stated. The

operations at B and G take place in a manner similar to that at station A, the diflerence in the operation depending uponthe difference in the tools to which the work is presented.

For mounting the grippers 12 upon a pair of chains in the conveyor mechanism 10, a pivot rod (Fig. 4), which serves as the pin- I tle for'connecting hinge portions of two gripper members 72 of each gripper. '12, is provided with an extension 74 (Figs. 3 and 4) at each end of the gripper 12, the said, extension 74 serving as "a connecting means between the gripper 12 and the chain at oneend of the i per and also as a pivot for two sets of chainlinks 76, 78. In an. apparatus designed for operating'onskins each gripper 12will be about five feet long, while inanapparatus for operating on large hides it maybe as long as ten feet. Hence the chains ofthe conveyor 10 will be spaced a considerable distance from each other at opposite ends of the grippers 12. For holding the two halves 72 of the gripper 12 in gripping relation to a piece of work, there isprovided a pivoted hook member adjacent to one end portion of a griper member 72 while the other gripper memr 72 carries a pin 82 with which the hook 80 engages to hold the gripper members 72 in gripping relation to the work, a spring 84 being provided for yieldingly holding the hook 80 in engagement with the pin 82. As most clearly shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings, the hook 80 has a laterally extending handle member 86 which may be utilized for manually releasing the hook for engagement with the pin 82 should occasion arise but which will normally be used in connection with other means to be described for automatically moving the hook toinoperative position, thus permitting the work to be released from the gripper. In machines designed to operate upon large pieces of work, a hook 80 with the co-operating parts just described will be provided at each end of the gripper members 72.

Preferably, and as shown, means is provided for automatically closing the grippers 12 in succession upon the pleces of work as each gripper in turn moves upwardly away from station E (Fig. 1). In theillustrated construction, this means comprises a toggle mechanism comprising a toggle lever 90 (Figs. 2 and 4) pivoted upon an extension 92 of a pivot pin 94 of chain links 96. At its other end the toggle lever 90 is connected by a pivot pin to a second toggle lever 102, a

which is pivoted upon a pivot pin 104 carried by two links 106, 108. These links 106,108 are pivoted at their opposite ends to brackets on the gripper members 72. One end of the pivot pin 104 is reduced in diameter as at (Fig. 4)' to be slidably received in a slot 112 in a link 114 secured to links 78 of the conveyor chain 10. In the construction shown, this link 114 is supported at one end by the extension 74 of the pintle 70 while at its other end it is secured to the chain links 78 by means of an extension of a pivot pin 116 which pivotally connects the set of links 78 with the links 96. Carried by the pivot pin 100 of the toggle levers.90, 102 is a cam roll "118 adapted to'engage with a cam bar 120 (Fig. 2) during-upward movement of the gripper 12 from the station E. For holding the conveyor chain 10 against buckling during cooperation of th'ecam roll 118 and the cam bar 120, the chain is backed .by a guiding backing member 122. It will be readily understood that as" the roll118 is gradually Y forced to the right in Fig. 2 the gripper members 72 will be causedto close upon each other until finally the hook engages over the p'in.82-to hold the gripper members 72 in closed engaging IelBtlOIIWlth the work. I

Upon reference-to Fig. 5 of the drawings it will be observed that meansis rovided for automatically unlocking the hoo member 80 with respect to the pin 82. This figure shows an abutment 130 carried by a stationary part of the machine frame (not shown) with which the laterally extending handle 86 of the hook member 80 will engage when the gripper 12 with its piece of work has reached station D. As soon as the hook 80 is moved to unlocking position the gripper members 72 are moved apart not only by the weight of the piece of work but also bv the tension of a spring 132, the ends of which are connected to thetoggle levers 90- and 102, the effect of the spring 132 being to break the toggle and draw the toggle levers to a position where the gripper members 72 are pulled to opening position to release the work, as shown in Fig. 6.

In operating the novel mechanism shown in the drawings by the aid of which the method of this invention may advantageously be practiced, a plurality of operations are performed upon the same portion of each hide or skin before it is turned end for end for a set of operations upon its untreated portion. It is thus possible'to grip a hide or skin by mechanical means to maintain control of it during a series of operations upon the same portion thereof and then to engage the treated portion with the same or a similar gripping means while the untreated portion is carried through a set of operations to complete the treatment of the hide or skin.

With reference to the illustrated appa ratus, a hide or skin, while under control by the gripping means 12, has a portion thereof unhaired, then cheeked, and finally fleshed while maintained under control by. the same gripping means. Subsequently, the treated part of the hide or skin is similarly gripped and then the untreated portion is first unhaired and then fleshed. Since sheep and goat skins are not cheeked, this operation is omitted when they are sent through the beamhouse.

As the gripper 12 passes upwardly from station E the gripper is caused to .close upon the hide or skin, as the case may be, by automaticallyoperated means such as that disclosed in Figs. 2,3 and 4 of the drawings.

At station A the-hide or skin is acted upon by an unhairing machine which unhairs approximately one-half of the hide or skin. The conveyor, during the unhairing operation, may be stationary, although it is preferred that it should continue to move since the timing of the conveyor 10 with respect tothe operations of the unhairing machine at station A, of the cheeking machine at station B, and of the fleshing machine at station 0, may be readily accomplished, and since there is a dwell in the movement ofthe hide or skin in a direction from left to right of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1, while the hide or skin is descending on one side of the sprocket wheel 52, 54 or 56 and while it is ascending on the other side of the same sprocket wheel. Furthermore, each of the machines shown at stations A, B, and O feeds the work outwardly in a direction to release it to the conveyor which moves with a speed just suflicient to take up the slack in the piece of work undergoing any one of the operations at the various stations. After the unhairing operation at station A the conveyor carries the same hide or skin to station B where the head and neck portions are checked, and subsequently to station C where the unhaired portion is fleshed. This skin may now be returned to station E of the same apparatus and passed through a second time to unhair and flesh the untreated portion of the hide or skin, the checker at station B being left inoperative during this second trip of the hide or skin, since only one p0rtion of any hide or skin is ever cheeked.

Preferably, however, a second apparatus, will be provided similar to that shown in Fig. 1a with the exception that it will not comprise a cheeking machine. B practicing the new method with the aid of the illustrated apparatus, two or three men may perform the work of attending to three machines which formerly required the constant attention of five or six men. If the apparatus is designed for operating upon small skins, such as goat and calf, only one man may be needed at station E to place a skin upon a gripper 12 when it reaches this station. If the apparatus is designed for handling heavy hidestwo men will be required at statlon E.

It will be readily understood that besides beam-house operations upon hides and skins, other operations may be performed such as putting-out,drying, and staking simply by substituting at stations A, B and C the appropriate machines for the work.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. That improvement in methods of operating upon hides, skins, and pieces of leather having grain and flesh surfaces which comprises performing a set of operations upon both grain andfiesh surfaces of a portion only of each of a lot of hides, skins, or pieces of leather, the pieces of work being moved to successive work-treating stations, and su sequently performing the same set of operations upon the remaining portion ofeach of the same lot of pieces of work. i

2. That improvement in methods ofoperating upon hides, skins and pieces of leather having grain and flesh' surfaces whichcomprises performing a set of operations upon both grain and flesh surfaces of a portion only of each of a lot of hides, skins, orpieces ofleather, while moving the pieces of work in succession to work-treating positions, and subsequently operating upon the remaining portions of each of the samev lot of pieces of work.

3. That improvement in methods of operating upon hides, skins and pieces of leather having grain and flesh surfaces which comprises performin a set of operations upon 0th grain and esh surfaces of a portion, only of each of a lot of hides, skins, or pieces of leather, while moving the pieces of. work continuously in succession to and by worktreating positions, and subsequently operating upon the remaining portions of each of the same lot of pieces of work. 4. That improvement in methods of operatinglupon hides, skins and pieces of leather whic com 'ises gripping a portion of each of a plura ity of hides, skins, or pieces of leather, performing a plurality of'operations -upon an ungripped portion of each of the lurality of pieces of work whileeach'piece is controlled throughits gripped portion, the pieces of work being moved -1I1 succession to\ and by work-treating positions, and subsequently performing a plurality of operations upon the remaining portion of each piece-of thesame lot of 'work., I

5. That improvement in methods of operatinglupon hides, skins and pieces of leather whic comprises gripping a portion of each of a plurality of hides, skins, or pieces of leather, performing a plurality of operations in succession upon an ungripped portion of each of the pieces of work while moving the pieces of work continuously in succession to and by work-treating positions and whileeach piece is controlled through its gripper portion, and subsequently performmg aplurality of operations upon the remaining ortion-of each piece of the same lotofwo I 5 6. That improvement in methods of operating upon hides 'skins and pieces of leather having grain and flesh surfaces which comprises gripping a portion of each of a plurality of pieces of work, performing a plurality of operations in succession upon both grain and flesh surfaces of a portion only of each of the plurality of pieces of work while a each piece is controlled throu h its gripped portion,'and subsequently per orrning a plurality of operations 11 on the remaining portion of each piece of t e same lot of work.

7. That im rovement in methodsof operatin upon hides, skins and pieces 0 leather whic comprises gripping a marginal portion of each of a plurality of pieces of work,

performing a plurality of operations upon a. portion only each of the plurality of pieces of work while each piece is controlled through its gripped marginal portion, releasing each piece of work after the perform ance of the operations on the said portion of the work, gripping each piece of work by engagement with a portion thereof which has been operated upon, and performing a plurality of operations upon the remaining pore tion of each piece-of work of the same lot while under control through the gripped portion thereof.

8 .That improvement in methods of operating upon hides, skins and leather which comprises gripping a marginal portion of each of a plurality of pieces of Work, perengagement with aportion thereof which has been operated,upon,\and performing unhairing and fleshing operations upon the remaining portion of each piece of work of the same lot while under control through the gripped portion thereof.

9. That improvement in methods of operating iipon hides, skins 'and leather which comprises gripping a marginal portion of each of a plurality of pieces of work, performing unhairing, checking, and fleshing operations upon a portion only of each of the plurality of pieces of Work While each piece is controlled through its gripped marginal portion, releasing each piece of work after the performance of the operations on the said portion of the Work, gripping each piece of work by engagement with a portion thereof which has been operated upon, and performing unhairing and fieshing operations upon the remaining portion of each piece of work of the same lot while under. control through the gripped portion thereof.

10. In anapparatus for operating, upon hides, skins, leather and other similar pieces of work, a plurality of mechanisms for per- 11. In an'apparatus for operating upon F hides, skins, leather and other similar pieces of work, a plurality of machines operating in series for performing a plurality of beamhouse operations in succession upon a por- 4 tion of each of a plurality of pieces 'of work, and means for, gripping a portion of each piece of workand bodilymovable for presenting each piece of work while controlled through its gripped portion to each machine in the series of machines.

12. In an apparatus for operating upon hides, skins, leather and other similar pieces of Work, a plurality of mechanisms for performing beam-house operations on pieces of 'work, and means for securely gripping each piece ofwork and carrying said piece of work work-receiving part of the cycle of each mechanism, so that an ungripped portion of the Work is operated upon by the several mechanisms while under control through the gripped portion thereof.

14. In an apparatus for operating upon hides, skins, leather and other similar pieces of work, a plurality of mechanisms for operating on pieces of work, each having a tool and a Work-supporting member movable t0 work-receiving position, said work-supportQ mg member of each mechanism being subsequently movable to work-presenting position with respect to the tool in said mechanism, and means for gripping a piece of work movable into position for the introduction of a portion of the piece of work intoeach of the mechanisms in succession while the work support thereof is in work-receiving position.

15. In an apparatus for operating upon hides, skins, leather and othersimilar pieces of work, a plurality of mechanisms for operating on piecesof work, each having a tool and a work-supporting member movable to work-receiving position, said work-supporting member of each mechanism being subsequently movable to work-presenting position with respect to the tool in said mechanism, and means for gripping a piece'of work and holding it suspended, said means being movable to introduce a suspended portion of the piece of work into the space between the tool and the work support of each mechanism while the work support thereof is in workreceiving position, and said gripping means being also operative to carry the piece of work from one mechanism to another whereby the suspended portion of the piece of work is successively I operated upon While securely held by the gripping means.

16. In an apparatus for operating upon hides, skins, leather and other similar pieces of work, a plurality of mechanisms for performing different operations upon a piece of work, and a flexible conveyor means having a. gripping member for seizing a piece of work, said conveyor means being movable I into position for the introduction of a portion only of the piece of work into each mech- I anism insuccession and to carry it from one mechanism to another while the gripping member retains control of the piece of work.

17. In an apparatus for operating upon hides, skins, leather and other similar pieces of work, a; plurality of beam-house machines operable in series, and a conveyor having grippers for engaging pieces of work and for carrying said pieces of work through each machine in succession while maintaining the pieces of work under control through the gripped portions thereof.

18. In an apparatus for operating upon hides, skins, leather and other similar pieces of work, a plurality of machines operable in series, and a conveyor having grippers each adapted to enclose a part of a piece of work and to present the free part of the work to each of the series of machines whereby the .free portion of the work is operated upon successively while under control through the gripped portion thereof.

19. In an apparatus for operating upon hides, skins, leather and other similar pieces of Work, a, plurality of machines operating in series, each machine having an instrumentality for operating on the work and a worksupporting member movable to work-receivmg position, said work-supporting member of each machine being subsequently movable to work-presenting position with respect to the work-operating instrumentality, and a conveyor having grippers for the pieces of work and movable to introduce each piece of work in succession into each'of the machines while the work-supporting member thereof is in work-receiving position, and to transfer the pieces of work'successively from one machine to another whereby a plurality of operations is performed in succession upon the pieces of work.

20. In an apparatus for operating upon hides, skins, leather and other similar pieces of work, a plurality of machines, each having an instrumentality for operating on pieces of work and a work-supporting member movable to work-receiving position, said work-supporting member of each machine being subsequently movable to work-presenting position'with respect to the work-operating instrumentality, and conveyor means for gripping pieces of work to'hold them sus-' tion of the several instrumentalities whereby,

the suspended portions of the pieces of work are successively operated upon while securely held by the conveyor means.

21. In an apparatus for operating upon hides, skins, leather and other similar pieces of work, a lurality of mechanisms for performing di erent operations upon a piece of Work, a conveyor having grippers for seizing pieces of work and movable to present the pieces of work to each mechanism in succession, and means for automatically closing and locking the grippers on the pieces of work and for causing the grippers to open to release the work afterit has undergone treatment by said mechanisms.

22. In an apparatus for operating upon hides, skins, leather and other similar pieces of work, a plurality of mechanisms for performing different operations upon a piece of work, a conveyor having grippers for seizing pieces of work and movable to present the pieces of work to each mechanism in succession, and means controlled by the conveyor for closing and locking the grippers in succession on pieces of work and for causing the grippers to open to'release the work after it has undergone treatment by said mechanisms.

23. In an apparatus for operat ng upon hides, skins, leather and other similar pieces of work, a plurality of mechanisms for performing different operations. upon a piece of work, a conveyor having grippers for seizing piecesof work and movable to present the pieces of work to each mechanism in succession, and means comprising stationary abutments for automatically closing and locking the grippers in succession on-pieces of work and for causing the grippers to open to release the work.

24. In an apparatus for operating upon hides, skins. leather and other similar pieces of work, a mechanism for operating upon a piece of work, and means for presenting the work to the mechanism provided with a gripper for holding'the piece of work on the work-presenting means, saidgripper comprising a. plurality of gripper members relatively-movable toward each other to grip a piece of work and away from each other to releasethe piece of work, and means for looking the gripper members in work-gripping position.

25. Inan apparatus for-operating upon hides, skins, leather and other similar pieces of work, a mechanism for operating upon a piece of work, and means for presenting the work to the mechanism provided with a gripper for holding the piece of work on the work-presenting means, said gripper comprising a plurality of gripper members relatively movable toward each other to grip a piece of work and away from each other to release the work, means for closing the gripper members upona piece of Work, and a latch member for locking the gripper members in gripping relation to the work.

26. In an apparatus for operatingupon hides, skins, leather and other slmilar pieces of work, a mechanism for operating upon a piece of work, and means for presenting the work to the mechanism provided with a gripper for holding the piece of work on the work-presenting means, said gripper comprising a pair of gripper members relatively movable toward each other to grip a piece of work and away from each other to release the work, a toggle and cam mechanism 0perative to close the gripper members upon a piece of work, and a latch member to lock them in work-gripping relation to the work.

27. In an apparatus for operating upon hides, skin's,.leather and other similar pieces of work, a mechanism for operating upon a piece of work, and means for presenting the work to the mechanism provided with a gripper for holding the piece of work on the work-presenting means, said gripper comprising a pair of gripper members relatively movable toward each other to grip a piece of work and away from each other to release the work, a toggle and cam mechanism operative to close the gripper members upon a piece of work, a latch member to lock them in work-gripping relation to the work, and a stationary abutment in the path of the latch for releasing the latter to permit the gripper members to open to release the work.

28. In an apparatus for operating upon hides, skins, leather and other similar pieces of work, a mechanism for operating upon a piece of work, and means for presenting the work to the mechanism provided with a grip per for holding the piece of work on the work-presenting means, said gripper comprising a plurality of gripper members relatively movable toward each other to grip a piece of work and away from each other to release the piece of work, means for locking the gripper members in work-gripping position, and means rendered effective by the work-presenting means for releasing the locking means to permit the gripper to release the work.

29; In an apparatus for operating upon hides, skins, leather and other similar pieces of work, a mechanism for operating upon a piece of work, and means for presenting the work to the mechanism provided with a gripper for holding the piece of work on the work-presenting means, said gripper com-v prisinga plurality of gripper members relatively movable toward each other to grip a piece of work and away from each other to release the work, means for closing the gripper members upon a piece of work, means for locking the gripper members in gripping relation to the work, and means in the path f the locking means for releasing the latter to permit the gripper to release the work.

30. In an apparatus for operating upon hides, skins, leather and other similar pieces or work, a mechanism for operating upon a piece of work, and a conveyor. for presenting the work to the mechanism provided with a gripper for holding the piece of work on the conveyor, said gripper comprising a pair of gripper members relatively movable toward each other to encloseand grip a portion of a piece of work, toggle mechanism for closing the gripper members upon the work, a cam for actuating the toggle mechanism, means for locking the gripper members in gripping relation to the work, and astationary member in the path of the locking means for cansing the latter to release the gripper members to permit the latter to release the work.

31. In an apparatus for operating upon hides, skins, leather and other similar pieces of work, a mechanism for operating upon a piece of work, and a conveyor for presenting the work to the mechanism provided with a gripper for holding the piece of work on the conveyor, said gripper comprising a pair of gripper members, a pintle for hingedly connecting the gripper members, said pintle serving'also to connect the gripper pivotally to the conveyor, means for automatically closing the gripper members upon a piece of work, and means for causing the gripper members to open at a predetermined point in the path of the gripper to release the piece of wor 32. In an apparatus for operating upon hides, skins, leather and other similar pieces of work, a mechanism for operating upon a piece of work, and a conveyor for presenting the work to the mechanism provided with a gripper for holding the piece of work on the conveyor, said gripper comprising a pair of gripper members relatively movable toward each other to grip a piece of work and away from each other to release the work, spring means operative to maintain the gripper members yieldingly in open, work-receiving condition relatively to each other, means controlled by the conveyor for closing the gripper members upon a piece of work, means for locking the gripper members in gripping re-- lation to the work, and other means controlled by the conveyor for causing the gripper members to open to release the piece of work.

33. In an apparatus for operating upon hides, skins, leather and other similar pieces of work, a mechanism for operating upon a piece of work, and means for presenting the work to the mechanism provided with a gripper for holding the piece of work on the workpresenting means, said gripper comprising a pair of gripper members relatively movable vtoward each other to grip a piece of work and away from each other to release the work,

.means automatically operative to close the gripper members upon a piece of work and lock them in work-gripping relation to each other, and a stationary abutment in the path of the locking means for releasing the latter to permit the gripper members to open to release the work.

i 34. In an apparatus for operating upon hides, skins, leather and other similar pieces of work, a mechanism for operating upon a piece of work, and a conveyor for presenting the work to the mechanism provided with a gripper for holding the piece of work on the conveyor, said gripper comprising a pair of gripper members relatively movable toward each other to grip a piece of work and away from each other to release the work, means comprising toggle mechanism for closing the grippermembers upon a piece of work, look ing means for holding the gripper members in gripping relation to the work, and a stationary abutment, said locking means having a portion adapted to contact with the stationary abutment during the movement of the conveyor to cause unlocking of the gripper members to permit the latter to release the work.

35. In an apparatus for operating upon hides, skins, leather and other similar pieces of work, a plurality of mechanisms for operating successively on a piece of work, each having a tool and a work-supporting member movable to work-receiving position, said I work-supporting member of each mechanism being also movable to work-presenting positions thereof approach each of the operating mechanisms from above to introduce the suspended portion of the work into the space between the tool and the work support of each mechanism in succession while the work sup-- port of that mechanism is in work-receiving position, said mechanisms and said conveyor being operable in timed relation to each other to permit introduction of the work, operation thereon of each individual mechanism, and transfer of the'piece of work from one mechanism to another in succession.

36. In an apparatus for operating upon hides, skins, leather and other similar pieces of work, a plurality of mechanisms for operating successively on a piece of work, each having a tool and a work-supporting member movable to work-receiving position, said work-su porting member of each mechanism being also movable to work-presenting position with respect to, said tool, a flexible conveyor provided with a ripper for seizing a' piece of work and holding it suspended, and a plurality of guiding wheels for the conveyor arranged to provide descending and ascending runs in the conveyor above each of the operating mechanisms whereby to introduce a piece of work into an operating mechanism during downward movement of the gripper with the descendin run otthe conveyor and to lift the piece 0 work away from said operating mechanism during upward movement of the gripper along with the ascending run of the conveyor,said mechanisms and said conveyor being operable in timed relation to each other to permit introduction of the work into each operating mechanism, operation thereon of each individual mechanism, and transfer of the piece of work to the other operating mechanisms in succession.

37. In an apparatus for operating upon hides, skins, leather and other similar pieces of work, a mechanism having a tool and a work-supporting member movable between work-receiving position and work-presenting position with respect to the tool, and means for introducing a piece of work while the work-supporting member is in work-receiving osition and for supporting the piece of work while the latter is being delivered from the mechanism.

38. In an apparatus for operating upon hides, skins, leather and other similar pieces of Work, a mechanism having a tool and a work-supporting member movable between work-receiving position and work-presenting position with respect to the tool, and conveyor means comprising a work-gripping member for introducing an ungrlpped port1on of a piece of work between the tool and the work sup orting member while the latter is in wor -receiving position, the work-gripping means being movable for supporting a constantly increasing portion of the piece of work as it' is being discharged from the mechanism during operation of the tool.

39. In an apparatus for operating upon hides, skins, leather and other similar pieces of work, a mechanism having a tool and a work supporting member movable between work receiving position and work presenting position with respect to the tool, a conveyor for introducing a piece of work into the mechanism while the work supporting memher is in work receiving position and for withdrawing the piece of work and support ing it while it is being delivered from the mechanism, and a conveyor guiding roll around which the conveyor passes to cause it to movedirectlytoward the mechanism in introducing the piece of work, the construction and arrangement being such that travel of the conveyor around the guiding roll produces a dwell in the traveling movement of the piece of work between the introduction and the withdrawal thereof during which the work supporting member may move to work I presenting position so that the mechanism may start in operation before the. work is moved away therefrom.

40. In an apparatus for operating upon hides, skins, leather and other similar pieces ofgwork, a mechanism having a tool andwork feeding means comprising a work sup porting member movable between work receiving position and work presenting posi tion with respect to the tool, a conveyor movable at a rate less than that of the work feeding means and operative to introduce a piece of work into the mechanism while the work supporting member is in work receiving position and for supporting the piece of work while the latter is being delivered from the mechanism, said conveyor comprising a gripper for gripping the work with a moderate pressure so as not to injure the latter, and a guiding roll for the conveyor around which the latter passes in introducing the work into the mechanism and withdrawing it therefrom, the construction and arrangement being such'that a dwell is provided in the traveling movement of the piece of work between the introduction and the withdrawal thereof during which a certain amount of slack is accumulated in the piece of work to be gradually taken up during the further movement of the conveyor after the dwell and without exerting any pull on the piece of work in moving it away from the mechanism.

41. That improvement in methods of operating upon hides, skins and leather which comprises performing unhairing, checking and fleshing operations in succession upon a portion only of each of a plurality of pieces of work while the pieces of work are being moved continuously in succession to work treating positions, and subsequently performing unhairing and fieshing operations upon the remaining portion of each piece of Work of the same lot.

42. In an apparatus for operating upon hides, skins, leather and other similar pieces of work, a. plurality of machines each having an instrumentality for operating on pieces of work and a work-supporting member movable to work receiving position, said work supporting member of each machine being subsequently movable to work presenting position with respect to the work-operating instrumentality, means for gripping a piece of work to hold it suspended, and a continuously movable conveyor having a plurality of the gripping means and constructed and arranged to introduce a suspended portion of each piece of work into the space between the operating instrumentality and the work supporting memberof each machine while the work supporting member is in work receiving position, there being a dwell in the movement of the gripping means when it is over each machine to facilitate operation of each machine in relation to the movement of the work, said conveyor being movable to carry pieces of work from one machine to another during operation of the several instrumentalities whereby the suspended portions of the pieces of work are successively operated upon while securely held by the conveyor supported gripping means.

43. In an apparatus for operating upon supporting member su hides, skins, leather and other similar pieces of work, a plurality of machines 'each having an instrumentality for operating on pieces of work and a work supporting member movable to work receivin position, said work feach machine being sequently movable to work-presenting po sition withrespectto the work operating instrumentality, each machine having also means for feeding the work out of the machine during treatment thereof by the work-operating instrumentality, means for gripping a piece of work to hold it suspended, and a conveyor having a plurality of. the gripping means and being continuously movable at a slower rate than therate of thewo'rk feeding means of each machine, the conveyor with its gripping means being arranged to introduce a suspended portion of each piece of work into the space between the operating instrumentality'and the work supporting member of each machine while the work supporting member is in work receiving position, said conveyor being also movable to carry pieces of work from one machine to another during operation of the several instrumentalities and of the work feeding means associated therewith in each machine whereby the suspended portions of the pieces of work are successively operated upon while, securely held by the conveyor supported gripping 1 means.

44. In an apparatus for operating upon hides, skins, leather and other similar pieces of work, a plurality of machines each having an instrumentality for operating on pieces of work and a work supporting member movable to work receiving position, said work supporting member of each machine being subsequently movable to work presenting position with respect to the work operating in-,-

- into each machine in turn while the work sup orting member of the machine is spaced witlE respect'to the work 0 eratin instrumentality of that machine, t e wor feeding means of each' machine being-arranged to feed the work substantially in the direction of movement of the conveyor and at a greater rate of speed than the conveyor,;-the arrangement being such that the feed of the work by each machine facilitates the operation of the conveyor and itsgripper members in carryling the work from one machine to anot er 45. In an apparatus for. operating upon hides, skins, leather and other similar pieces of work, a plurality of machines each having an instrumentality for operating onpieces of work and a work supporting member movable to work receiving position, said work supporting member of each machine being subsequently movable to work presenting position with respect to the work operating instrumentality, each machine having work feeding means for feeding a piece of work out of the machine during the operation of the work operating instrumentality, a plurality of gripper members for gripping and holding pieces of work suspended from the gripper members, a conveyor-to which the gripper members are attached, said conveyor being continuously driven at a substantially slower rate than that of the work feeding means of each machine, and idler rolls, one adjacent to each machine, about which the conveyor passes with its gripper members, the construction a and arrangement being such that each gripper member moves downwardly toward one of the machines in passing around the idler roll whereby a suspended portion of the work is introduced into the machine while the work supporting member of the machine is spaced with respect to the work operating instrumentality, there being a dwell in the-movement of each gripper.

member around the idler ro-ll, thus facilitating the timing of the machine by the operator so that the work supporting member may move to work presenting position with respect to the work operating instrumentality before the gripper member-with its piece of work starts upwardly at the full rate of movement of the conveyor and while the piece of work is being fed out of the machine at a greater rate of speed than that of the conveyor, the conveyor being continuously movable'to carry pieces of work from one machine to another during operation of the several instrumentalities ,whereby the suspended portions of the pieces of work are successively operated upon while securely held by the conveyor supported gripper members.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification. 4

'H'ANSfFREUDENBERG. 

